Wind Energy

Ebone Smith

NATURAL RESOURCES (NR) 1234

Professor Dean Stauffer

The More Sustainable Energy

Source

The United States primary use of fossil fuels to power the country is damaging. Fossil fuels are
not beneficial to the United States due to its numerous disadvantages. The use of fossil fuels leads to
human health hazards and environmental destruction. The generation of energy from fossil fuels causes
health issues through the excessive release of carbon dioxide gas. The impact that the carbon emissions
have on the environment are believed to cause health related issues, such as asthma and cancer. The
environment is negatively impacted by fossil fuels emission of carbon dioxide through results such as rise
in global temperatures. The rise of global temperatures has caused the polar glaciers to melt. The rise in
temperatures has also caused changes in animals habitats, seasonal changes, and has altered agricultural
productivity.
Americas primary use non-renewable resources to produce electricity does not benefit the
environment or the issue of limited natural resources. Certain states and countries have implemented
different strategies to reduce the amount on carbon dioxide emissions and rate of global warming. The
most popular strategy is the construction of wind farms. The state of California has initiated a transition
from fossil fuel plants to windfarms in the valleys, coasts, and mountaintops. Most of the states in the
United States have installed wind turbines, but not all of them. In addition to America acting on the
negative impacts of greenhouse gas release, China, the United Kingdom, and Mexico, are starting the
trend of other countries that have constructed wind mill farms in multiple regions. The entire United
States should follow in these states and countries footsteps by converting to a more fruitful natural
resource of energy, such as wind turbines. Wind is a renewable resource which generates at a rate that is
equal to the rate of its natural replenishment. With wind turbines, America can make the community and
environment more sustainable.
Although many countries are in the process of transitioning to wind energy through their land,
many issues exist with wind farms that prevent the United States from fulfilling the conversion. There are
concerns that deal with the social response, environmental impact, and economic changes. The social
response involves the public opinion of wind farms. Many citizens in different states and countries have
reacted negatively to the construction of wind turbines in certain geographic locations. The responses

vary from complaints about the noise, the space that they occupy, the reliability, and the altering of the
aesthetic landscape. The impacts on the environment also cause public speculation. Wind turbines
increase the bird and bat fatality rate. Wind mills may also can result in erosion is areas of low plant and
tree growth, such as deserts. The building of wind farms requires an abundant amount of land use which
could disturb the habitats of different animals in the surrounding area. (California Energy Commission,
2005) The public and environmental impacts all alter the economic value of wind farms. For the shortterm, windfarms may cause a delta in the economy. Manufacturing a wind farm is expensive. The
reliability of wind energy also questions whether the investment is worthwhile. (Stoutenburg & Jenkins &
Jacobson, 2013)
The public responses to wind farms is primarily negative. The issues typically have to do with the
concerns of the emotional ties and natural aesthetics involved with landscape, place, and nature. There are
recurring themes that correspond with the problems of building wind farms. It has been found that
different types of locations in various countries and states have similar complaints. Although in the
aggregate the list of complaints against wind projects can be long, relatively few issues stand out
consistently. (Pasqualetti, 2011)
One common theme for the publics negative response is the inability for wind turbines to move
locations. The immobility of wind mills is an issue because the turbines are stationary. This restricts the
energy flow, and limits the allowance of the energy produced to power the specific regions around the
wind farm. The inability of windmills to be modified lessens the amount of productivity in certain
locations. (Pasqualetti, 2011)
Another focus with public complaints is the permanence of a location. People are most comfort
with the idea that a place will not change, but stay exactly the change. When windmills are incorporated
to landscape, it is changed which causes human disgust to the unfamiliarity. (Pasqualetti, 2011)
The third focal point is sense of place. Landscape is unified with human interactions. Many, if not
all, landscapes tell a story. The stories are more significant to some than they are to others, therefore
landscape should not be considered to be just objects but a part of human lives. (Pasqualetti, 2011)

Another theme for public issues is the idea that wind projects are for someone elses benefit.
(Pasqualetti, 2011) This was the general mentality in Mexico when residents were asked to pay taxes for
the production costs even though the energy would not directly help all of the taxpayers. This has to do
with unfair treatment. (Orion & May, 2012)
Lastly, the core idea for public complaints is the issue of threats to place identity. This theme
incorporates the fact that there are personal connections between people and place. (Pasqualetti, 2011)
The environmental impact of wind energy has both advantages and disadvantages. The positive
effects are centered on the facts that the energy is renewable and a sustainable source of electricity. Wind
is also flowing through the atmosphere due to changes in pressure, thus it is completely renewable and
does not release carbon dioxide (also known as greenhouse gas). Wind energy also does not release
pollutions into the atmosphere. (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2015) This benefits the
environment because greenhouse gas emissions has resulted in climate change that harms both the
environment and humans. All of these factors better the environment by decreasing the rate of climate
change. (Rodman & Meentemeyer, 2005)
Even though, many may disagree, there are more environmental advantages to wind energy than
there are disadvantages. The environmental disadvantages to wind energy consist of bird and bat
fatalities, erosion of desert areas, and disturbed wildlife habitats. Although these all of issues that should
be considered before constructing windfarms, the primary wildlife habitats that are disturbed are those of
bats and birds. Approximately 573,000 birds and 888,000 bats die every year as a result of generating
wind energy. In the past, it has been concluded that larger scale wind turbine with a larger rotor diameter
are safer for golden eagles, but not for red-tailed hawk, American kestrel, and burrowing owls. K. Shawn
Smallwood and Brian Karas conducted a study to examine the amount of bird and bat fatalities due to
wind turbines. The carcasses were marked as either not at all caused by wind turbines, possibly caused by
wind turbines, probably caused by wind turbines, or certainly caused by wind turbines. It was probable or
higher marked if there was wind mill residue on the carcass and it was near a wind mill. Smallwood and

Karas performed this study from 1998-2003 and then again from 2005-2007. The two found that the
amount of deaths increased from the first time frame to the second. (Smallwood & Karas, 2009)
Although there was an increase in fatalities, there are several possible solution for the issue. One
solution for this issue could be to repower and replace older wind turbines with new ones because
approximately 54% of the fatalities are a result of old-generation wind mills. Another way to mitigate the
fatality rates would be to closely examine the meteorological conditions at the wind farm location.
Studies have shown that bat activity is generally higher at lower wind speeds and higher temperatures.
A good predictor for this is to analyze the different ecological conditions during the varying seasons.
These factors should be put into consideration while building wind mills so that the turbines operations
alter throughout the designated course of the year. The preventative measure can protect bats and
drastically reduce the amount of bat fatalities in a year. (Weller & Baldwin, 2011)
The issue of erosion in desert areas has a simple solution. Erosion in desert areas occurs due to
the excessive wind redirection from the wind turbines. The wind that is already flowing is being spun and
heavily forced by the wind turbine to produce energy. This force results in soil being blown away through
a more vigorous process than just natural wind. (California Energy Commission, 2005) A solution for this
is to build wind turbines in areas with vegetation. Constructing wind farms in areas of vegetation can
benefit both the environment and the economy. Another solution would be to use different topographical
locations such as mountaintops, valleys, and coastal shores. (Capps & Hall & Hughes, 2012)
The last controversial topic about wind mills is the economical portion of the investment. Many
people believe that constructing wind turbines can be excessively expensive. Others do not see value of
wind energy or its reliability. In California, it has been discovered that winds variability effects the wind
power and does not meet the standards of maximum capacity for electricity as a result. The variability of
wind is due to the different wind speeds at different times of the day. For example, winds are typically
calmer from twelve oclock noon to four oclock in the evening. This is because of the stability of
pressure in the atmosphere during this time period. (Stouenburg & Jenkins & Jacobson, 2013)

The economic problem can be solved. The solution is to have wind mill construction companies
reevaluate the size and model of the turbines. With this reconsideration, the company must also
investigate the meteorological conditions of the region that the wind farm will be built. Different climates
have diverse wind conditions, thus the manufacturing of wind turbines must be different. It was found that
the wind energy performance was decreasing until 2009 due to lower wind power constraints and poor
development of wind turbines. (Capps & Halls & Hughes) This can be solved by using diverse
geographical locations. Topographic diversity results in higher wind values due to the wind variations.
With using weather for energy, all of the atmospheric conditions at the setting have to be examined.
Winds around mountaintops and valleys are strong due to the frequent changes in pressure and increase in
atmospheric circulation. (Mills & Wiser, 2015) Although winds in the valleys are particularly strong,
winds over the sea are stronger due to less friction. On land, wind must pass through barriers such as
building and trees, but over the sea there is nothing but air. (Nam & Send, 2011) The wind speed and
surrounding friction must be considered while developing wind farms to determine the size of the wind
turbines rotor diameter and rated power. With these two characteristic of wind mills in consideration, the
manufacturer can optimize the amount of wind being used to provide power. Adjusting the rotor diameter
can provide more wind energy and increase the amount of energy for dollar. This would benefit and boost
the economy. (Capps & Halls & Hughes)
Wind energy is a pollution-free, carbon emission free, and renewable resource for electricity. The
issue of fossil fuel availability, its costs, and the negative impacts on the environment has been an issue
for decades. Certain parts of the world have found a solution to these issues, however the public is not
comfortable with the change in the scenery or energy source. The public response to wind turbines is all
centered on psychological issues instead of environmental benefit and human health. With considering the
meteorological conditions surrounding wind farms, wind energy can stimulate the economy and become
environmentally safe, friendly, and clean. Wind power has several beneficial factors for the outside
factors and very minimal disadvantages. Eventually, the public will change its attitude toward wind farms

because they will only decrease the stress of todays most prevalent issues, lack of sustainability, poor
economy, and high human health issues.

Literature Works Cited

Scott B. Capps, Alex Hall, and Mimi Hughes. 2014. Sensitivity of southern California wind energy to
turbine characteristics. Wind Energy. Vol 1of 7.
Laura C. Rodman and Ross K. Meentemeyer. 2006. A geographic analysis of wind turbine placement in
Northern California. Energy Policy. Vol 34.
Eric D. Stoutenburg, Nick Jenkins, and Mark Z. Jacobson. 2013. Variability and uncertainty of wind
power in the California electric power system. Wind Energy. Vol 17.
Andrew D. Mills and Ryan H Wiser. 2015. Strategies to mitigate declines in the economic value
of wind and solar at high penetration in California. Applied Energy. Vol 147.
Conserve Energy Future [CEF]. 2009. Advantages of Wind Energy. <[ http://www.conserve-energyfuture.com/Advantages_WindEnergy.php]>. Accessed Day 25 09 2015
Martin J. Pasqualetti. 2011. Opposing Wind Energy Landscapes: A Search for Common Cause. Annals of
the Association of American Geographers. Vol 101.
Brian Orion and David S. May. 2012. Keys to Wind Energy Development in Baja California. Natural
Resources & Environment. Vol 26.
Energy. 2005. Overview of Wind Energy in California. <[
http://www.energy.ca.gov/wind/overview.html]>. Accessed Day 28 09 2015.
Theodore J. Weller and James A. Baldwin. 2011. Using echolocation monitoring to model bat occupancy
and inform mitigations at wind energy facilities. Journals of Wildlife Management. Vol 76.
United States Environmental Protection Agency. 2015. Greenhouse Gas Emissions
<[http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/]> Accessed Day 07 11 2015